Durham ended the second day's play of their Cricinfo Championship match on 186 for nine after their last-wicket pair had stood defiantly for half an hour, adding 17. Needing a further 88 to make Middlesex bat again, a follow-on is almost a certainty.

Durham struggled for most of the two sessions that they batted after making a poor start. A third-wicket stand of 91 between Martin Love and Paul Collingwood helped the visitors recover to reach 130 for two at tea on the second day.

They had lost their opening batsmen in the first hour, within 15 overs. Jonathan Lewis, 18, was the first to go, lbw to Tim Bloomfield, with the total on 33 and six runs later James Daley, 17, fell in the same manner to a ball from Chad Keegan that kept a little low.

But the brief period of revival came with Love and Collingwood showing fine batting form. Although dropped behind the stumps on 22, Love played delightful strokes in reaching his eighth half-century in ten first-class matches this season. Collingwood too showed why he has an average of 61.18 this season, but on 45 he became the first of Paul Weekes three victims.

His dismissal on 131, precipitated a collapse with seven wickets going down for 38. Phil Tufnell did the damage with an excellent spell of three wickets for three in sixteen balls. Meanwhile, Love, having hit 64 off 136 balls, nine of which brought him boundaries, fell to a sharp, one-handed catch by Ben Hutton at short leg.

With his departure, Durham were 152 for six and the chances of a recovery looked remote.

Earlier, Hutton had registered his third century of the season and the second of the Championship as he helped Middlesex to an impressive 424 all out at lunch.

Hutton and his captain Angus Fraser built on the overnight total of 326 for seven. Hutton, resuming his innings on an unbeaten 76, began cautiously, although he played two glorious extra-cover drives in his 80s and then cut Michael Gough for four to reach 96 before four singles took him to three figures. He had faced 233 balls and hit 12 boundaries.

Fraser was severe on Gough during his big-hitting spree of 41, his highest Championship score this season. He lifted the off spinner over the mid-wicket boundary and then, in the same over, struck him for another six at long-off to reach 30.

Hutton brought up the 400 with his only six, to cover point - over the short Mound Stand boundary - and then glanced the next ball for four which took him to 112.

The breakthrough for Durham came 20 minutes before lunch when Gough had Fraser stumped to end a fine 95-run partnership for the eighth wicket. Three runs later, on 424, Middlesex lost their last two wickets. The first of those was Hutton's for a brilliant 120 which had spanned over six hours and 274 balls.

Gough's five for 94 was his second five-wicket haul in this season's Championship and Nicky Hatch with three for 82 had put in a commendable effort with the opposition in such good batting form.

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